Our Team

Lisa Shippey

My Story:

Stories have always fascinated me. My mom still laughs about catching me (as a 5-year old) reading Pinocchio under the covers with a torch long after bedtime; and to this day my children roll their eyes when I tell them I am just going to ‘pop in’ to look at a bookshop.

Stories invite us into different worlds, connect us to people, and help us to make meaning of our lives. I find it intriguing that how we see ourselves and our future is based on the story we tell ourselves about our past – and reframing our view of our past can change everything. As Kierkegaard wisely said, Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. This is true of individuals, of societies, and of organisations.

I was born in the little town of Kokstad, spent some of my childhood in Durban, and have lived in and loved Jozi for most of my life. I spent 24 years working in a multicultural church community – mentoring, counselling, training, facilitating and creating experiences for learning and personal change. These years reinforced my passion for people - and for helping them excel in their personal lives, their work and their relationships. They taught me to suspend judgment, because 99% of the time, people are doing the best they can. Importantly, these years birthed in me a passion for diversity, and for the dismantling of stereotypes and inequality. I am acutely aware of the privilege I carry, and am always looking for ways to leverage it to empower others and to build our conflicted, beautiful nation.

As a facilitator and coach with a background in psychology, I thrive on connection with people, on creating catalytic learning environments, and on making what I know accessible and profoundly useful for them. I am convinced about the extraordinary power of intrinsic motivation; and I am inspired by the synergy that occurs when people with different strengths and perspectives collaborate. I believe we will all go further, faster together if we are curious about people, lifelong learners - and embrace the notion that laughter is fabulous medicine!